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Lawmakers counter ballot proposal with watered down transparency measures

Lawmakers will consider two transparency bills on Wednesday in an effort to head off a ballot measure that would go to greater lengths. The Constitutional Legislative Transparency Act, backed by Republican donor Charles T. Munger, Jr., is a constitutional amendment

Republicans in Legislature poised to increase diversity in 2016

Matt Fleming June 11, 2016

Buried beneath the headlines of Donald Trump’s comments of the day and the relatively new top-two primary format that weeded out Republicans from a statewide partisan race for the first time ever rests one nugget of good news for the

Trump’s Mexico-baiting roils CA, GOP

James Poulos June 11, 2016

Donald Trump’s primary victory in California came along with a big cost to his campaign, as the presumptive Republican nominee’s sustained attacks and insinuations against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans roiled the Golden State and slowed the party’s move to consolidate around him.

CA opens Affordable Care Act door to unlawful immigrants

James Poulos June 10, 2016

State Democrats forged ahead with legislation designed to fill out Covered California’s enrollment ranks with unlawful and undocumented immigrants. Following the state Senate, the Assembly has “passed a measure that would remove a critical barrier to Covered California and allow

Lawmaker gives award to brother, political consultant

Matt Fleming June 9, 2016

In deciding which small business from her district should win an award for “Small Business of the Year,” Assemblymember Nora Campos didn’t have to look far. The San Jose Democrat chose Voler Strategic Advisers, a fledgling political strategy firm that

CA GOP shut out of U.S. Senate race

James Poulos June 9, 2016

California Republicans emerged from a bruising primary election day without a candidate in the runoff race to replace outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer — triggering an unprecedented new political calculus in which GOP voters will be courted by the underdog Democrat. “Democratic Orange

UC system eyes big out-of-state tuition hike

James Poulos June 7, 2016

A protracted dispute in California about education funding for the UC system has sharpened over a new bill in Sacramento that would require big new hikes in tuition for out-of-state students. Assembly Bill 1711, introduced by Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, sailed through

Divided Democrats look to Brown for lessons

James Poulos June 7, 2016

Waiting until nearly the last possible moment, Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, highlighting both the limits of his room for political maneuver as California’s top Democrat and his quiet prominence as a leader strangely suggestive of the party’s

Congress conflicts on CA drought

James Poulos June 7, 2016

Despite substantial labors on both sides of the aisle, legislators in the House and the Senate alike have failed to agree on a drought relief package for California, deepening a dispute over where water should flow that seems to have

Report bolsters governor’s call for budget caution

Chris Reed June 6, 2016

With the June 15 deadline to finalize the 2016-17 state budget looming, Gov. Jerry Brown continues to push back at Democratic lawmakers’ call for him to revise his $123 billion spending plan to include new or expanded spending on social